What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted
by ieatleaves
Summary: She used to want to see him in her dreams because she couldn't see him when she was awake. Dreaming about him allowed her to hold on to hope. Hope that she'd see him again. Hope that he'd be home some day. It's been ten years since those nights... and she would give anything to stop dreaming about him. Post-Canon.
1. Prologue

Prologue

* * *

When she was twelve, she used to want to dream about the boy who was lost. The boy she vowed to bring back.

The boy she loved.

When she was lucky, she did dream of his raven-black hair and piercing onyx eyes. She wanted to see him in her dreams because she couldn't see him when she was awake. Dreaming about him allowed her to hold on to hope. Hope that she'd see him again. Hope that he'd be home some day.

It's been ten years since those nights.

And she would give anything to stop dreaming about him.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

"I knew you'd still be here," came a voice from the doorway, causing Sakura Haruno to snap her attention away from the papers on her desk.

Sakura laughed. "Of course I'd still be here. I still have ten minutes left of my shift, Temari."

"Yeah, but you definitely were planning on staying for hours after your shift. Don't think that I don't know your style, Sakura." The blonde wind-wielder rolled her eyes as she surveyed the medic nin critically. "What is it with you Leaf people; do you not know how to have a life outside of work?"

Sakura smirked, knowing full well where this was coming from. "Still haven't heard back from Shikamaru, huh?"

Temari stomped her foot impatiently. "Yeah, well, the idiot's not supposed to be back from his mission yet anyway. I just thought – well, the only reason I sent that pigeon to him was to see if he'd gotten back early or something. But I didn't come here to talk about me," the blonde added sternly, "so quit distracting me away from the fact that I'm here to drag you away from this office."

Sakura raised her eyebrow. "Oh? And where would you be dragging me to?"

"Gaara wants to speak with you about something. So quit trying to drown yourself with work here and get your tiny ass out of that chair! Can't have the kazekage waiting, now."

Laughing, Sakura shut the cover of her notebook with an exaggerated flourish and got up. "Fine, fine. You Suna folk sure are pushy."

Temari smirked. "Clever girl."

.

.

.

"Oi, I brought a present!" Announced Temari as she playfully pushed Sakura into the room.

"Hey, Gaara." Sakura smiled warmly at the red-haired kazekage, who was standing behind his desk. He had previously been looking out at the window, but he turned around to greet the pink-haired medic nin from Leaf.

"Sakura."

Gaara returned Sakura's smile with one of his own. He swiftly observed her, as it had been a few days since he had last seen her. She looked to be the same, more or less. She didn't look particularly tired, which was a good sign, as she was now notorious for putting in too many hours at the Suna Hospital.

As his eyes met her bright, emerald eyes, he briefly wondered, not for the first time, how someone who was not traditionally beautiful could be so – well, beautiful nonetheless. Her forehead was a bit big for her small frame, and her skin had its fair share of faded scars lingering on it. Yet, despite these imperfections, Sakura Haruno still had a face that made people want to look at it twice.

Gaara realized that Sakura's eyes had turned curious at his silence and gaze, and he broke himself away from his thoughts.

He had called her here for a reason, didn't he?

Temari raised an eyebrow in amusement as she observed her youngest brother. It seemed that even a kazekage could lose his composure when confronted with a pretty face.

"Temari told me you had something to tell me?" Sakura inquired gently.

Gaara nodded. "Yes. I got a message from Naruto a few hours ago." He saw Sakura draw in a sharp breath at the mention of her teammate's name. "It seems," he continued, "that Team Kakashi had a mission at a village close to Suna. They've completed it successfully, but, as you know, we're due for a major sandstorm tomorrow, and they would like to stay at Suna to wait it out. They are to arrive later tonight."

The kazekage waited for a reaction from Sakura, but all he could see was blankness. Her expression gave away nothing.

"I didn't tell them you were here, of course." He said softly. At this, her eyes turned grateful.

"I know; I wasn't thinking that you had told them." Sakura smiled. "You wouldn't do that."

She grew quiet once more, and Temari broke into the silence. "Where's the team staying?"

"On the opposite side of town as Sakura's apartment." The brother replied, his eyes still on Sakura. The pink-haired girl gave a sigh – of relief, probably – at his answer.

"Okay, well," Sakura began again, "then I'll just make sure to stay put tonight. I should probably go to bed early, anyway. So, um, if that's all, I should get going." She hesitated. "You'll keep them away from the hospital area?"

Gaara nodded, and Sakura, reassured, moved toward the door. Before she left, Gaara couldn't help but ask a question that he knew would be useless.

"You sure you don't have a message to give them?"

Sakura didn't turn around. "I'm sure," she said as she opened the door.

With a soft _click_, the door closed, and she was gone.

.

.

.

As soon as Sakura made it back to her apartment, she let herself fall limply on the couch. She hadn't turned on any of the lights, so she stared into the darkness, trying to push thoughts out of her head.

She was unsuccessful.

Sakura couldn't make out the hour from the clock on the wall, as it was dark, but she didn't really want to know. What did it matter to her how long she had until her former teammates were in the same village as her once again? It shouldn't matter at all; she wouldn't be seeing them. They'd be here and gone in a flash, and she could go back to her life. Her new life here in Suna.

The people here have been incredibly kind to her and her circumstances. Gaara had not asked any questions when Tsunade had written him asking to let Sakura work in the Suna Hospital. She had told the kazekage that, due to personal reasons, Sakura no longer wanted to stay in Leaf for the time being and that she could be very useful in training new medics and doing hospital work. Gaara had accepted immediately, and he had never once plagued Sakura with any questions as to why she had needed to leave her village.

She had been so grateful. The moment that Gaara's reply came by the messenger hawk, Sakura had packed up and left. Tsunade had assured her that she would tell Team 7 that Sakura was gone on a long-term solo mission and that the whereabouts couldn't be told. It had broken her heart to know that she couldn't say goodbye to Naruto, Kakashi, and Sai, but she knew that she had to leave immediately and that she couldn't bear to answer any questions.

The only person for whom she had left an explanation was Sasuke.

She had left him a letter. It was short and abrupt, she knew, but she had taken care not to put too many emotions into it. She wanted to be detached. It was not a love letter she was writing, after all.

It was a goodbye.

.

.

.

Sakura didn't know how long she was on the couch for. It may have been minutes, or it may have been hours. She had taken out a bottle of liquor to dull her thoughts, and she was perfectly content to lie on the couch and drink every time she had a thought.

She didn't want to think about him.

Her eyes were open in the darkness. She had no desire to go to sleep. She slept very few hours these days because she didn't trust herself to not think of him in her last moments of clarity before dozing off to sleep. Whenever she thought of him before going to sleep, she always dreamt about him – and every time she dreamt about him, she woke up to find trails of tears on her face.

She didn't want to cry anymore.

She took another swig of whiskey and felt it burn her throat as the liquid passed.

_Thump._

Sakura's head turned toward the direction of her bedroom. What the hell was that noise?

_Thump._

If it was a burglar, then it was a very poor one, for he wasn't being very quiet about it. Gritting her teeth, she got up and padded toward her room. _He picked the wrong girl to rob…_

She stood in the doorway of the room, looking at the window. There wasn't anyone outside of it.

Not a very resilient burglar, was he?

However, to make sure, she made her way to the window and opened it. The night was clear, despite the impending sandstorm that would hit tomorrow, and for a few seconds, Sakura gazed at the full moon.

"Pretty, isn't it?" A smooth voice came from above her.

Though Sakura flinched at the voice, she made no move otherwise. Rather, she became very still.

"Why, I'm hurt, Sakura-chan. You can't even let out a 'hello' to your sensei that you haven't seen in half a year?"

A figure jumped down and settled on the roof. He now stood in front of Sakura, and his silver hair gleamed brilliantly in the moonlight.

"Kakashi-sensei..." Sakura breathed out.

"Good to know you remember." Kakashi Hatake said softly. "Fancy meeting you here, Sakura."

She didn't meet his eyes. "How'd you find me?" Her voice had the distinct tone of resignation to it.

"Well, you see, we had gotten lost on the way to Suna – sand really is annoying for foreigners, isn't it? – so I'd summoned Pakkun to help us locate the village. Imagine my surprise, then, Sakura-chan, when my trusty nin dog whispered to me that he could smell you in the village."

"Did you tell the others?" Sakura asked, closing her eyes.

Kakashi was quiet for a moment. "No." He said finally. "I didn't tell them anything."

Sakura let out her breath. She hadn't realized that she had been holding it. "Why not?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't want me to."

At this, Sakura's green eyes finally found Kakashi's. She stared into his one visible eye and saw that it had no trace of accusations or resentment in it; only concern. "Thank you."

Silence lingered. She didn't know what to say – she had so much to say, yet also nothing to say.

Kakashi offered no words, either. He simply reached out and put his hand on top of Sakura's head, a gesture that spoke so much and was so familiar that it filled Sakura's heart with both joy and immense sadness.

"Kakashi-sensei, I – " Sakura heard the pleading tone in her voice. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I left. I don't – "

"Sakura-chan, your eyes are going to be as puffy as a pair of blowfishes if you cry this late at night." Kakashi's tone was light but his eyes were full of caring, and Sakura laughed through her now-steady tear drops and tight throat. She bit her lower lip, trying hard to stop crying, but if she had learned anything in the past few months, it was that she had absolutely no control over her tears.

"You should hate me." She sobbed out, and she hated how weak her voice sounded. "I just up and left with no explanation. I would have hated you if you had left the way I did."

"You know our team's not into hating people that leave." Kakashi said gently as he drew her head close into his chest. "I knew you had your reason for leaving and that Tsunade-sama knew where you were all this time. That was enough for me."

Taking deep breaths, Sakura wiped away what she swore would be her last teardrop for the night and looked up at Kakashi again. "And the rest of them?"

Kakashi returned her gaze. "They… each took it in their own way."

She didn't want to ask what that meant. The less she knew, the better. She didn't want to envision her friends in any way, because the more she could envision them, she more she would miss them.

"We're going to be leaving right after the sand clears from the storm tomorrow. I don't suppose you want me to tell any of them about you being here."

Sakura shook her head. "They can't know."

"Figured as much."

With one final pat on her head, Kakashi stepped away. "I have to go now, Sakura. Take care of yourself, and," he paused, "whatever it is that made you leave… when you've made peace with it, know that we're all waiting for you."

Sakura tried to give him a smile but couldn't quite manage it. "Thank you. For everything." _For still caring about me even though I don't deserve it._ "And, Kakashi-sensei," she called out just in time to catch him before he completed his hand seals, "… is he… happy?"

Kakashi didn't have to ask who she meant.

"He's been happier." The silver-haired man said pointedly. With a rueful last look, he was gone in a whiff of smoke.

.

**.**

**.**

**A/N: **If you enjoyed the story, please leave me a review! It only takes 5 seconds for you to brighten my day :)


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

_Summer was in full swing in Konoha. Sakura loved every facet of her village, but its summers were an especial favorite of hers. A true Konoha summer was balmy, green, and long. The sun extended its hours to impossible lengths, and children's laughter could be heard in every street corner as they engaged in various activities outdoors for hours on end._

_Sakura had woken up on this particular late July day in an extraordinarily good mood. She thought nothing could be more perfect as she basked in the ray of sunlight coming through the window and snuggled herself in closer to the body next to hers._

_It was very rare that she woke up before Sasuke did. His body seemed programmed to wake up before the sun was up – unsurprising, considering the childhood he had had. Sakura loved to wake up to Sasuke gazing at her, but she loved beating him to the punch even more. And last night, she had taken extra care to wear him out thoroughly so that he was guaranteed to sleep in. _

_They had gotten back from a mission late at night, but since it was a relatively easy mission, neither of them was very tired. Knowing full well that it was absolutely imperative that Sasuke slept in the next day, she had suggested that they take a shower together – which then resulted in the two of them creating steam hotter than the one from the shower. They had eventually ended up in the bed, but sleep was definitely not on the agenda for a _very _long time._

_The plan had the desired effect. Sasuke was absolutely worn out and still deep in sleep when Sakura woke up. She was normally a heavy sleeper, but her excitement and anticipation for the morning woke her up early, just as she has planned. Before going through with what she had in mind for the morning, though, she couldn't help but trace the tip of her finger around Sasuke's face._

_Sakura didn't very well remember what any of the Uchihas had looked like. She was only a small child when the massacre took place, and since then, the only members of the infamous clan that she had met – besides Sasuke, obviously – were Itachi, Madara, and Obito. However, even without having met all of them, Sakura was sure that Sasuke's face was a rare beauty even for the notoriously good-looking clan. His classically cut features were regal and strong, and Sakura had always thought that Sasuke looked fit to be a prince._

_Sometimes, she still couldn't believe that he had chosen her._

_Realizing that Sasuke wouldn't stay asleep for much longer, Sasuke pulled herself back into reality and gently but quickly got out of the bed. Throwing one of his shirts on, she was about to head out of the room when an idea struck her. She looked around for a pen and a piece of paper, and, upon finding it on Sasuke's desk, scribbled five words on it, followed by many exclamation points:_

"_Do NOT leave this room!"_

_She taped it to the bedroom door where Sasuke would surely see it if he did get up in the next few minutes, and, satisfied at having covered all her bases, she quietly trotted out of the room and went toward the kitchen. _

_Twenty minutes later, Sakura carried a tray full of pancakes and omelettes back to the room. Before she opened the door, though, she called through the door softly. "Sasuke?"_

"_Aa."_

_Smiling at just the sound of his voice – which sounded a little grumpy, as she had expected, for he didn't very much enjoy being ordered about – she opened the door and reentered the room._

"_Happy birthday, Sasuke!"_

_Sasuke, who had been sitting on the edge of the bed with his elbows on his knees and chin in his palms, looked exactly the way Sakura had wanted him to: Surprised._

_Putting down the tray next to him, Sakura swiftly leaned over and planted a kiss on her boyfriend's cheek. "I knew you wouldn't remember your own birthday." She laughed._

_Sasuke looked at Sakura, then at the tray of food, then back at the pink-haired girl in front of him. "I don't celebrate my birthdays."_

"_But I do!" She plopped down on to the floor in front of Sasuke and, placing her hands on top of his knees, looked up at him and beamed. "We're going to celebrate every single one of your birthdays from now on, okay? We have to make up for the ones I missed." She added softly. _

_Sasuke didn't seem to know what to say, but Sakura didn't need him to. She saw the look of gratitude and love and even a little bit of marvel in his eyes as he bent down to give her a long, slow kiss on the mouth. The kiss sent shivers down her spine and seemed to heat up her entire body._

_She was so happy to be the one he had chosen._

"_Now, come on!" She exclaimed as she broke out of his kiss. "I made a tomato omelette for you and pancakes for me, because I knew you would've eaten my share, too, if I had made an omelette for myself as well." She grinned. _

_Sasuke broke out into a rare laughter at her ridiculous but true logic, and Sakura was once again reminded that summer was the best season indeed because the boy she loved was born during it seventeen years ago, and after so many years of being away from him, they were here laughing and eating breakfast together on his birthday on this beautiful summer morning._

* * *

Sakura woke up feeling as if she couldn't breathe. Her throat was closing in on her as the tears continued to flow. She clutched her heart because it hurt her so much that she didn't know what else to do.

She just couldn't understand how a broken heart could keep hurting her this much.

She had dreamt about the past again. What time was it? It was still dark out, which meant that she hadn't been asleep for too long – as usual. She almost couldn't believe that there was a time in her life when she had actually enjoyed sleeping.

And dreaming.

Sakura rolled over to her side and faced the table next to the couch, where the empty liquor bottles lay hollow.

"_I don't like you drinking without me around."_

"_Well, then, it's a good thing," she had smiled, putting her arms around her dark-haired boy and putting her nose to his, "that you promised to always be around." _

Sakura closed her eyes and put her palms to her ears. She didn't want to see or hear any part of her past anymore.

Would it ever end?

* * *

The wind had picked up its speed in the last hour. Everything had been calm up until for most of the night, and Sasuke Uchiha almost doubted that there would even be a sandstorm.

He was sitting on the window seat, leaning against the glass window. He could see everything outside clearly, and when the first trace whirl of sand, carried along by a soft wind, had passed by the window, Sasuke had raised an eyebrow.

When that gentle wind was substituted for much angrier ones, Sasuke couldn't help but be impressed with the Suna folk for knowing that the storm would come.

Sasuke didn't like the desert. Sand was definitely not on his – admittedly short – list of things he liked, and as he watched it fly around ominously through the window, Sasuke was reminded of why he hated sand so much.

It concealed things too well.

The night had been quietly beautiful before the storm had made its first signs of appearance. The stars and the moon seemed to shine brighter here than it did in Konoha, and the night had been well lit with nothing but the extraterrestrial beings.

_She liked night skies, _he caught himself thinking absently.

* * *

_It was the night before the first day of spring. Sasuke and Naruto sat on the couch in Sasuke's apartment, and Sasuke held a large bottle of vodka in his hand. Taking a long swig from it, he passed it on to Naruto, who also didn't hesitate to down it._

"_So," Naruto said, wiping his mouth with his sleeve, "she comes back tomorrow, huh?"_

_Sasuke offered no answer, but he couldn't help smiling. Granted, the smile was almost imperceptible, and most people would have missed it._

_But he knew that Naruto could see it._

"_I don't know what kind of crazy girl would ever agree to marry a bastard like you, though." The blonde chuckled softly to himself._

"_I haven't asked her yet. Idiot." Sasuke replied calmly, but inside, he was anything but._

___Earlier that night, Naruto had run into Sasuke as the latter came out of a jewelry store. Though Naruto was pretty much a true idiot in most senses, even he could work out what Sasuke must have been planning._

_He knew in his head that he didn't have anything to be nervous about. He had known very soon after his return to Konoha that Sakura Haruno would be the girl he married some day. Perhaps he had even realized it during the war itself; he didn't know exactly when or how it had started._

_What he did know was that she was it. _

_The craziest part, by far, of all this was that he knew with absolute certainty that she loved him just as much as he loved her._

_But despite what his head already knew, his heart started racing whenever he thought of what he planned to do the next day._

_If life had gone the way he had thought it would when he was still a very, very young child, it would be an Uchiha heirloom diamond ring that Sakura would be shown upon Sasuke's proposal. However, along with most of the relics of his childhood, the heirlooms were long gone. _

_Sasuke had preferred it this way, though. What he loved about being with Sakura was that she offered him a new life. A life that never ceased its brightness. A life that allowed him to smile and be happy and fall in love with the woman with whom he was sure to spend the rest of his life._

_An old ring, however exquisite, wouldn't have been fitting._

_Sakura had been gone for a couple of weeks on a mission to a remote village to vaccinate the children in an orphanage. Sasuke had taken advantage of her absence and been hunting for the perfect ring, and earlier that night, he had found it. _

_Just in time for her arrival home._

* * *

The storm was beginning to truly pick up its speed now, and Sasuke was brought out of his thoughts by the howling wind.

He reached deep into his pockets and found the small, smooth object in it. Taking it out, he held it between his fingers and lifted it to be level with his face.

The ring that he had bought six months ago gleamed brilliantly despite the fact that there wasn't anything from off of which to reflect light. The room was dark, and the moon and the stars were now obscured by the wind and the sand.

Yet the diamond shone on, and, lowering the ring and clutching it in his hand, Sasuke Uchiha resigned himself to the night's sleep.

The last thing thought of before falling asleep was a pair of bright emerald eyes that were so much brighter to him than any diamond he had ever seen.

* * *

**A/N: **Pssst. Hey, you. Yes, you! I get a notification every time anyone favorites/follows the story, and I can also see how many people have viewed the story! So please do me a favor and leave a comment if you like my stuff! That way, I know to continue :)


	4. Chapter 3

CHATER 3

Karin cursed under her breath as the village of Suna finally came into view. _Fucking took long enough, _she thought to herself.

She had been on a mission to Iwa and had decided to cut through Suna to shorten her route to Konoha. However, what she was most definitely _not_ aware of when she decided on this brilliant plan was that there was some kind of bizarre storm taking place at the same time that she would be trekking through this stupid desert.

The storm had raged in full swing for several hours by now. She had waited it out in a cave upon which she had stumbled by complete luck. She shuddered to think what would have happened if she hadn't found it. The winds haven't died down completely yet, but it wasn't impossible to make her way through it now. Wanting to move through the desert as quickly as possible, she had decided to venture out, especially since she didn't need much guidance with direction. She could easily feel the thousands of chakras pulsing in Suna, and all she had to do was follow it.

It was easy in theory, but that didn't make the task any more pleasant. Despite the wind, there was definitely a lingering heat in the air. Karin didn't even know how or why that was even possible.

_Stupid desert. Stupid sand. _

She wished, against her will, that she had taken the locals' advice and gone on the longer, roundabout route through trees back to Konoha.

However, as she got closer to Suna, she had realized that perhaps luck _was_ on her side, after all. Amidst all the chakra signatures, two in particular jumped out at her. She was familiar with their chakras by now, but even if she had only encountered it once, she would still be able to recognize it years later.

Their chakras were unique. She had never encountered anything like theirs before, and she highly doubted that she ever would.

The chakras of Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha.

If those two were in Suna together, they must have come on a mission – which would mean that Kakashi and Sai should be with them. Karin focused her inner sensor and, sure enough, found their chakra signatures with ease.

She hadn't known that they were on a mission to Suna, but then again, she didn't get to see them very much these days. She brightened as she realized that she wouldn't have to make the journey back to Konoha alone, and quickened her pace, not wanting the Leaf nins to leave before she reached the village.

* * *

"Eh? Karin? What are you doing here?" Naruto's obnoxiously loud voice greeted her.

"Was passing by this way on my way back from a mission. Looks like I made it just in time to catch up with you guys." She replied with relief. She had just passed the Suna gate and ran straight into Team Kakashi, who seemed to be headed toward the way she had come from. They were clearly on their way to leave. "Didn't want to be stuck in the desert alone for another minute. God, who the fuck would choose to live here?"

At this, a couple of Sand civilians turned their heads toward her, and Naruto put out both his palms out in a placating gesture. "She's just kidding, guys!"

"I really see the family resemblance in you and her, Dickless." Sai said thoughtfully as he nodded toward Karin.

Ignoring him, Karin turned to Sasuke. "Hi, Sasuke-kun. Long time no see." She smiled. He nodded in acknowledgement at her, and she felt her skin tingle. Even after all these years, she couldn't help but be thrilled at Sasuke's gaze. "Okay if I join you guys on the trip home?"

"Aa."

"Well, if no one else is joining us, we better hurry. The sun sets early here." Kakashi's languid voice came from behind them, and the five of them were about to continue onward to the gate when Karin suddenly froze mid-step, causing Naruto to walk straight into her back and fall backwards.

How had it taken her this long to notice this?

"Ow, what gives, Karin?" Naruto said in irritation as he lifted himself up from the ground . Karin didn't react or respond; instead, she turned her head toward the village. Naruto could see a faraway look in her eyes. "Karin?"

She didn't respond but continued to stare in the direction of the village with a frown on her face.

"Something wrong?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi, who hadn't been paying this interaction much attention, suddenly realized what must have caught Karin's attention. His heart sank to his stomach as he realized that he was powerless to stop the words that came out of her mouth next.

"She's here."

* * *

Sakura was in her office, going over the daily reports. She was almost finished with the pile, save for one. Her least favorite parts of the reports to read.

She hated looking over them and always left it till the end of the day, knowing that it would render her day unbearable if she were to read them any earlier. At least if she left it till the end of her shift, it couldn't ruin her day – only night.

And her nights were almost always terrible, anyway. No loss there.

Heaving a sigh, she finally got around to looking at the maternity ward reports. They contained various pages on current expecting mothers and mothers recovering from giving birth as well as information about the newborns.

Sakura's eyes skimmed the words quickly, trying to read as little as she possibly could.

She hated this.

* * *

"_Sasuke!" Sakura burst into her office and found the onyx-eyed Uchiha sitting in her chair, as expected. She was supposed to have the afternoon off from hospital duties, which was pretty rare, and he had come to pick her up for lunch. His expression, which had been peaceful, turned into a slight frown at Sakura's tone of urgency. He raised an eyebrow at her. _

"_I'm so sorry, but I'm going to have to cancel on lunch – I just got an ANBU in need of emergency surgery." She rattled off, frantically struggling out of her white lab coat and reaching for her surgery uniform at the same time. "And, Sasuke, I need a favor." _

_She didn't often ask favors from him. He nodded at her, silently asking her what she wanted._

"_You know that I told Ino that I'd watch Akane-chan this afternoon, but I really don't know how long the surgery's going to go on for." Sakura went on quickly, partly because she really needed to get herself to the surgery room and partly because she didn't want to give Sasuke the chance to say no. "So I need you to babysit her instead of me, just until I get done! Kurenai-san's supposed to get back from her mission in a few hours anyway, so you really won't have to watch her for long."_

"_What? Sakura, I don't know how to watch four year olds, can't someone – "_

"_There's no one else! Not with such little notice, anyway." Sakura interrupted and turned on her heels swiftly, not wanting to give Sasuke the chance to get himself out of this. This was an emergency. "Sorry, Sasuke! I'll make it up to you later, but for now, I gotta go – I'll come find you afterwards!" She waved as she hurried out of the office, leaving an open-mouthed Sasuke in her office._

_Sakura didn't give Akane or Sasuke much thought for the next few hours; she couldn't afford to. She had a life to save on her hands, and it required all of her concentration. However, when she was finally finished with the operation and sure of the fact that her patient was in stable condition, she began to recall that she had left Akane Sarutobi in Sasuke Uchiha's hands for the afternoon. _

_She wasn't sure whether Sasuke had ever been alone with a child for an extended period of time. Hell, he hadn't ever really been near children even when he himself had been a child. Slowly, Sakura began to wonder if she had made a terrible mistake._

_Groaning to herself, she hurried out of the hospital hastily in search of the black-haired man and child. She checked the playground by the Academy, restaurants and candy shops, and even the training grounds, but came up empty._

_Where _were_ they?_

_Tired, she shuffled her feet along the street with no real aim. She was out of ideas but couldn't stand to keep still. It wasn't that she didn't think that Akane wouldn't be safe with Sasuke or anything. She just wasn't sure that the two of them were enjoying each other's company much, and wanted to relieve both of them from – well, misery. Or whatever._

"_Wow, nii-chan, that one skipped so far!"_

_Sakura stopped in her tracks. That voice – she knew that voice. _

_She hurried toward the direction from which Akane's voice had come. She came upon the creek that flowed under the bridge that served as Team 7's meeting spot in their genin days. By its shore, she spotted a small child bent over on the ground, surveying various rocks. _

"_Is this one thin enough?" The child held up a smooth stone and held it out to the man next to her. Sasuke surveyed it seriously for a moment before nodding at her. Akane then got up and fumbled a bit with the rock on her right hand. "Is this how you hold it?"_

"_Almost. You want your index finger right on the edge there." Sakura saw Sasuke stoop down to the child's level and wrap his hand around her tiny fingers, helping position them correctly. "Now stand with your feet shoulder width apart and face the water sideways – like that, good. Flick your wrist sharply to get the stone to flit on the water, and make sure you're letting the wrist do the work; not your arm." _

_Sakura watched as Akane moved her body to take the position that Sasuke had instructed her to take. She saw the little girl's face scrunch into one of determination and concentration. Akane took a deep breath, and, presumably feeling ready, threw the stone toward the water._

_The skinny stone flopped straight into the creek with a small splash._

_Sakura saw Akane's face twist and knew that the child was about to burst into tears. The pink-haired kunoichi was about to rush toward them when what she saw next stopped her._

_Sasuke, still crouching next to the little girl, put his head gently on her shoulder and faced her squarely. "That was a good try."_

_Akane's lips quivered. "I failed."_

"_So did I, the first time I gave that a try." Sasuke said gently, and this intrigued Akane enough to stop her tears from spilling over._

"_But Sakura onee-chan said you're the best shinobi. She said you do everything well." The child said, curious._

_Sakura could see Sasuke smile at Akane in a way that she knew he almost never did toward people who weren't Sakura. "Sakura's biased. I don't do everything well – and I definitely didn't do everything well when I was your age, Akane. You just have to keep practicing until you get better."_

_Akane stared at Sasuke, wide-eyed. Then her face broke into a smile, and she exclaimed, "Okay, nii-chan! I'm going to skip rocks further than you one day!" as she dove toward Sasuke and wrapped her short arms around his neck._

_Sasuke seemed taken aback for a second before he put an arm around the little girl and lifted her up into his chest. Holding her there, he stood up. "Good. Now, I think your mother's supposed to be back by now. Let's go see if she's home." _

_He turned around and spotted Sakura, who flashed a grin at him. Akane's arms were still wrapped tightly around his neck, and the pink-haired medic could've sworn that she saw the faintest hint of blushing on _the _Sasuke Uchiha's face as he realized that Sakura had been watching them._

"_Sakura onee-chan!" Akane yelled out happily when she, too, spotted the familiar kunoichi. "You have the best boyfriend ever!"_

_Sakura laughed as Sasuke brought the girl closer to her. "Hi, Akane-chan." She gave the child a kiss on the cheek and looked into the round, black eyes. "Yeah, he's okay." _

_At this, Sasuke rolled his eyes, which only made Sakura laugh even more. _

"_Come on, we gotta get her back to Kurenai's." He muttered. _

_Akane continued to keep her arms wound around Sasuke's neck as he carried her. When they got to Kurenai's place, they discovered that Kurenai was indeed back from her mission, and only then did the child clamber out of Sasuke's arm and jump down to the ground. She ran toward Kurenai, and the mother and daughter waved goodbye to Sasuke and Sakura a few minutes later as the couple left._

"_Come back soon, Sasuke nii-chan! I'll be better at skipping rocks by then!" Akane had called after them, bouncing with joy. _

_Sasuke waved his last goodbye to the child, and Sakura looked at him, clearly amused._

"_What," he said defensively._

"_Nothing. She adores you." Sakura replied simply, her eyes full of smiles. Sasuke didn't offer a response other than a seemingly indifferent, "Che," and a slight turn of his head away from Sakura, but she knew him well enough to know that he was pleased._

_Sakura knew that she would be lying if she said that she had never thought about having children – specifically, children with Sasuke. They were both twenty and had been in a relationship for about four years now. She was in love with him as she ever was, and though they didn't talk about the future much, she knew with absolute certainty that he was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with._

_She had known that for eight years now. _

_But children? That had always been uncharted territory. They had never discussed kids – either of their own or other people's. She had always thought that he would want kids down the line, but she wasn't sure if it would be out of anything other than his desire to continue the Sharingan line. She had no idea whether he actually liked kids or not. He seemed to avoid them, if anything, which had led her to suspect that he didn't much care for them. _

_However, when she saw how gentle he had been with Akane, she realized that he actually adored her as much as the little girl apparently did. He had been great with her. He was kind and gentle in guiding her, and Sakura had seen the shade of protectiveness light his eyes when he looked at Akane._

"_Sakura?" _

_Sasuke's voice brought Sakura back to reality. She hadn't realized that she had stopped walking as she fell deep into her thoughts. "Sorry, I was just thinking."_

_He glanced at her, and she knew that he was wordlessly asking what she was thinking so hard about that she had stopped being in motion. "I just – you were really great with Akane-chan today, Sasuke. I was a little worried about leaving you guys together."_

"_Worried?"_

"_Yeah." She hesistated. "I never really knew whether you liked kids or not."_

_Sasuke frowned a little. "I wouldn't say that I like them."_

"_Well, you like Akane-chan," Sakura suddenly smiled as she remembered the way he had looked at the child, "and she likes you back."She paused. This seemed as good a time as any to discuss – the "topic." Strike while the iron is hot, so to speak. She silently gathered her courage, and finally just let the words out of her mouth. "Do you want kids?"_

_This time, it was Sasuke who stopped in his tracks. "What?"_

"_I don't mean now," she said quickly, "obviously. Or even with me. I just mean – in general. In life."_

_He ran his hand through his hair, the way she knew he often did when he was at a loss for words, which was definitely not often._

"_I – Sakura, why are you asking this?"_

_She lowered her gaze onto the ground, not meeting his eyes. "I'm just wondering, I guess."_

_He was silent for what must have been a mere couple of seconds, but to Sakura, it felt as long as a lifetime. "Sakura. I… I'm not parent material."_

_At this, Sakura's eyes snapped back up, but she found that Sasuke's eyes were not on her. His gaze was off to the side, and Sakura shifted a bit to look directly into his onyx eyes. "What? Says who?"_

_His eyes lacked the pride and confidence they usually had. Sakura had rarely ever seen him look so vulnerable. _

"_I come from a clan of people who didn't know how to be parents, Sakura." He said so sofly that it almost sounded like a whisper._

_Sasuke's eyes were about to look away from Sakura's when she reached out and put her hand over his cheek. "Sasuke, please look at me." _

_Doubt flickered in Sasuke's eyes for a flash of a moment before they settled back on Sakura's emerald ones. _

"_Sasuke." She began gently but firmly. "You are not your family." Sakura took Sasuke's warm hand in her own with her vacant hand. "I can't imagine anyone who would be a better father than you. You're so strong but also kind to the people you love. You saw how much Akane-chan liked you today. And I saw how good you were with her. And I see how much you love me every second that I'm with you. You're the best man I know, Sasuke."_

_She saw his eyes – the eyes she loved so much – soften. He put his hands tightly around her waist and bent down, meeting her lips with his. The kiss was slow and long. It was one of those kisses that seemed to light everything in Sakura with warm fire. When they finally broke away from each other, Sasuke put his forehead on hers and looked into her eyes. She could see his every lash and the deep, never-ending darkness of his eyes as he spoke._

"_I love you so much, Sakura Haruno."_

* * *

_Dammit, _Sakura thought angrily as her vision blurred. She looked upward and blinked several times, determined not to let her tears spill over.

She would give up everything she owned to have the ability to control her emotions.

_You are a kunoichi, _she inwardly scolded herself. _Get your shit together, Sakura._

Sakura let her head drop down to her desk and gathered her right hand into a fist. She would not cry. She would _not_ cry, and she also wouldn't let these memories pop out at her.

_Knock._

Sakura made no move to get up at the knock. _Who the fuck knocks once? _"Not now." She called out, figuring that it must be one of the training medics."

To her anger, she heard the door swing open. She blinked back the last of her tears, and, sure that she had composed herself, looked up with fire in her eyes.

"I told you not – " She began, but then her eyes took in the appearance of the intruder.

He was tall, easily six feet. Her office seemed to be made tinier by his full presence. She couldn't tell whether her heart was speeding or stopping when she saw his eyes.

The dark eyes of the last Uchiha.

* * *

**A/N: **Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, or reviewed the story. Special shoutout to **ezra scarlet of fairy tail **and **lolajam77 **for leaving reviews on each chapter! I wish everyone could be like you guys :) Everyone, if you liked the chapter, please let me know by leaving a review! Any words of encouragement = faster updates! Hope your weekends are going fabulously!


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